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Pukekohe will be tough says HSV’s Tander

Perth round winner Garth Tander is out to repeat that performance at Pukekohe but is under no illusions about the difficulty of the task

April 18, 2007, 6.20pm. Toll HSV Dealer Team Commodore VE driver Garth Tander heads to this weekend’s Pukekohe Australian V8 Supercar round intent on repeating his whitewash of all three races in the last round at Perth.

The West Australian is currently second in the 2007 series behind defending champion and HSV teammate Rick Kelly.

At Pukekohe last year, Tander had dominant speed for most of the weekend, but it was all to no avail as he was given a drive-through penalty for allegedly jumping the start in Race 1.

“We had good car speed there last year, putting the car on pole and setting the fastest lap time in two of the three races, but for one reason or another we didn’t get a result,” he said this week.

“But it’s a track I like (Tander raced in NZ in Formula Fords early in his career), and I’m looking forward to getting back there again to try to win the last-ever round there for Holden (the NZ round moves to the new Hamilton street circuit in 2008).

“It’s quite different from the previous two tracks we have driven on this season (the Adelaide street circuit and Barbagallo Raceway in Perth), and we’ll be working hard to get the best out of the new package on the high-speed circuit, especially on the last two corners.

“We’re feeling pretty good about things after our win in Perth, but we know that there’s only one way to stay near the top.